Autism Awareness Month – “Just people with a peculiar way of thinking, trying to fit into the world!"

Colleagues who joined SAP through our flagship program Autism at Work share their thoughts and perspectives around inclusion

My colleague Damjana Meze had the brilliant idea to write an article to commemorate Autism Awareness Month and celebrate neurodiversity, which I’m glad to collaborate on. As we face the unprecedented challenges that have risen due to Covid-19, I reflect on what we are all going through together, and I realize that the feeling of belonging remains intact. We all aspire to belong, no matter our gender, sexual orientation, ability, nationality, age, race or ethnicity, etc. We yearn for respect and inclusion. This holds true for people on the spectrum.

Nowadays, even if there’s some general knowledge about autism, many have probably only ever heard about “Rain Man”. Therefore, people with autism are usually forced to navigate through stumbling blocks on the way to employment. As liberating as that movie was in bringing autism out of the abstract, it dazzles the perception of their abilities. “Rain Man” had no comparable rival with a similar theme in over 30 years, so it formed our understanding of autism into one single character. The fact is that two individuals on the spectrum are not the same, or as Dr. Stephen Shore, an autism researcher, said: “If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.”

SAP has done a remarkable job with our Autism at Work program in recent years and continues to be an inspiration and a role model for other companies around the globe. Through this project we currently employ 34 people with autism in Latin America & the Caribbean and have recently spread our wings with the opening of 3 new chapters in Chile, Colombia and Mexico. Our work was recognized with several prestigious accolades last year, but the best award, as I see it, are our people. So, to conclude Autism Awareness Month it felt logical to ask them how they feel at SAP. We were thrilled to learn more about their beginnings at the company, how they are coping with their daily work during lockdown, and life in general.

Our colleague Jorge Quezada, a Young Professional in the Presales department in Las Condes, Chile, has been working at SAP for 8 months now. He learned about the opportunity through Descúbreme (or “Discover me” in English), a foundation that connected him to SAP’s Autism at Work program. His experience with SAP has been different from any other even in its early beginnings. The first interview he had was focused on his potential and personal development. There was not a day that he didn’t feel accepted and valued.

Jorge has a Buddy and a Coach to support his learning and he feels great respect for them and all his Presales colleagues who are always there to offer their guidance and support. The team spirit at the office makes a huge difference and is one of the reasons that makes quarantine so challenging. He’s learned to control his anxiety, but it has increased recently because of lockdown. His hypersensitivity leads him to lose focus and feel somewhat emotionally unstable, which has affected his performance, yet he’s discovering how to deal with it through the Mindfulness and meditation sessions provided by SAP.   

There is a positive reflection that he finds in this pandemic in the fact that quite some people will start to appreciate more what they would previously take for granted. And this could change our lives.

Samantha Rivera Badillo, a database technology consultant from SAP Mexico, holds a high regard to the support that SAP has given her, which enables all of us to become more than we were when we started, summarized in our campaign “Bring everything you are, become everything you want”. She is thankful for the opportunity to have joined SAP, which has helped change and magnify her world.

Marcia Machado works in the Cloud Innovation & Services team in S?o Leopoldo, Brazil. Besides her regular job, she is also engaged in DAP@SAP, an employee network group focused on the inclusion of people with disabilities, as Co-Lead for their Employee Engagement pillar.

She remembers how difficult her hiring process at SAP was, especially when it comes to logistics. She only had two weeks to move with a husband, a small child and two cats into a new city where she didn't know a single person. But the office was a lot of fun for her and she did receive the team’s Scrum Master role while developing games and building robots.

These days, Marcia feels pretty comfortable working from home. She has more direct communication without struggling with body language and feels that a regular home office setting should be optional for all people with autism. She has a special message for us.

"We need less judgement. We have many interesting skills and some specific needs like everyone else. They may not be as common, but a little empathy goes a long way.

We are just people with a peculiar way of thinking, trying to fit into the world. Peculiar is not bad; it’s just different."

Nicolas Neumann, one of our colleagues from Argentina, achieved an extraordinary accomplishment earlier this year: He won the Hasso Plattner Founders' Award, SAP’s most prestigious recognition. He took the trophy for his posting automation innovation, which radically simplifies accounting processes. The fact that he joined SAP through Autism at Work wouldn’t matter if it wasn’t so important in terms of representation for everyone on the spectrum. His win shows the opportunities that SAP provides to every individual and what anyone can achieve with the right support and encouragement. Nico is an example of what happens when you let people be their authentic selves and overcome the differences that would otherwise prevent us from making progress.

Last but not least, Luis Mojica, from Bogota, Colombia, shares his story of struggle and success. He defines his experience at SAP as “one of the best and most encouraging he has ever had”. He didn’t have the highest expectations at first, though, due to previous experiences which had disastrous results. He became emotionally stronger after several crises, although it didn’t stop affecting him. He is thankful to a very supportive friend of his for reminding him of his value and the gaps he is closing as a role model for future generations of people with autism (his friend's daughter is on the spectrum). With all that in mind and great astonishment he found out he was selected for a Sales role at SAP in January this year. This time, he had a full onboarding experience and completed all kinds of training and learning programs about the company and our policies. For anything else there is to learn, he can turn to his Buddy.

He faced several challenges at first, like coping with the many learning sessions to cover in such a short time, meeting his new colleagues and manager, adapting to a new area, struggling with a constant concern about his performance, and being forced to radically change his routine to start working from home due to Covid-19. He is very honest in stating his life at SAP has felt like a roller coaster, which helped increase his self-awareness and adapt to ever-changing situations.

This is just the beginning of a great opportunity that he gets to be part of because of who he is and his unique abilities. Just like Marcia, he also has a message for us.

"Never stop doing your best, growing and surprising yourself, regardless of how you became part of this family. We are all unique and we all have special talents. Let’s embrace our differences and exalt those of others. Those who joined through Autism at Work will never be alone and will always have a friend within SAP, even if they are not there all the time. Finally, I can only thank SAP for this amazing opportunity, this one-of-a-kind program, for breaking boundaries and shifting paradigms, and for making the best run."

What else is there to be said? I can only sincerely thank everyone in this article for opening up and letting us into your lives.

Let’s embrace differences! Neurodiversity rocks!